A Walk Through Trees and Time
by StubbornSomething
Summary: We all secretly dream of being part of another world, to simply waltz in another universe and make it ours. For our protagonist, a nerd with no physical abilities and slightly too much sarcasm, this so-called dream could turn instantaneously into a nightmare. Warning: shameless time travel and fallen-out-of-the-sky OC. (Haven't seen any of these here and thought I might experiment)
1. Chapter 1

The forest didn't seem to end. She trudged along the endless clusters of trees, the grass squeaking under the rubber soles of her shoes. It must have been early morning, everything was still covered in teeny tiny beads of dew. It would have been a stunning view, if she wasn't completely lost and appropriately dressed for the weather. The cold seeped into her bones. She thought of her warm winter coat and then changed her mind. She would rather be cold than carry the weight of the coat around and sweat under it like a pig. A hoodie would have done the job just as well, or at least something with sleeves.

Her head throbbed like never before. She occasionally stopped and leaned against a tree, barely avoiding fainting. She hated the idea of becoming the damsel in distress, who would faint and fall into the arms of prince charming at the sight of a drop of blood or the mere mention of gore. The forced and unexpected walk through the woods cleared her mind, but it didn't stop her migraine. She tried not to panic, but not knowing how she got there made her anxious. The sight of the light seeping through the foliage combined with the uneasy tension of the unknown territory gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like the landscape hid something much darker behind its façade. Maybe it was just the hunger. The little food she had packed didn't last for long, it was an apple and a few biscuits, appropriate for a short train ride, but not for an unexpected hike.

She had put her backpack between her legs, after hiding her valuables at the bottom, and tried to nap through the train ride as she usually did. Except she didn't wake up near the station as she usually did, she woke up in a goddamned forest, with not a single soul in sight, a terribly cold forest to be precise. Instead of looking out the window and seeing the grey buildings covered in graffiti she saw the incredibly bright sky that made her squint and green everywhere else. She had no reception, and all she could do was to keep on walking and hope she wouldn't have a rendezvous with a bear or a pack of wolves. "The storms come and go, the big fish eat the little fish, and I keep of paddling". You didn't expect Varys to show up to support our main character, huh?

She stopped to refill her water bottle once more from the small creek. She wasn't made for physical effort, or maybe she was, she didn't bother testing her limits when it came to sports, and walking for hours on end meant she could easily get dehydrated and that's not another extra problem she wanted to have right now. She came to the conclusion this was an elaborate joke, planned by her brothers, who carried her sleepy and slightly hung-over person out of the train and planted her there, where she would be scared shitless and then make fun of her for the rest of her life, or at least until something comparatively bad happened to one of them. This needed to remain between them, granted it will certainly become blackmail material.

* * *

It was past noon when she got out of the forest. The sun was shining mockingly, looking down at her, as if it was part of an inside joke she couldn't get. Somewhere, too close to the horizon for her liking she spotted smoke. And by greenness of the rocky plains, it wasn't a wildfire either, and taking into consideration her state of total despair, she walked towards her only hope. Her muscled ached from the long long "walk" she had to take, having probably gone in circles through the thick forest earlier that day. It didn't help that the soles of her sneakers weren't all that thick either, and she could feel each and every single pebble she stepped on.

Although it was past noon it didn't get any warmer, the exercise helped her slightly, but it was still chilly and she couldn't understand why. It was late spring, it should have been much warmer than this, but the quickly dismissed the thought. It was just a cold chilly day, nothing out of the ordinary, shit happens. She didn't manage to convince herself though. She quickly considered whether or not it was worth it carrying around all of the extra weigh in her backpack. Her geography book didn't serve much purpose in this case, it wasn't like she was going to stop and study for the test. Her notes weighed heavily on her shoulders, she must have been desperate. Under normal circumstances she would threaten and let out a few colourful curses if anyone suggested that her precious notes were useless.

If the temperature fell another two degrees she would rip her extra shirt and her pyjamas to shreds, tie them together, and wear the makeshift garment as a scarf. She didn't really have the time to contemplate this scenario, as a shout disrupted the heavy silence. She whipped her head around only to make eye contact, first with the arrow pointed in her direction, then with the wooden bow, and finally, with the man who was holding them both, ready to shoot her. She froze. A mop of incredibly light, almost white blonde hair fell to the man's shoulders. Now that she got a proper look at him, he was more a boy than a man. The only thing she could do was stare, as her body refused to cooperate. She took back her words, walking in a forest "with no soul in sight" seemed like a perfectly good plan. The fact that the boy was wearing medieval-looking clothes didn't help either, but she didn't have time to think about that either. The arrow was still pointed at her threateningly. She dropped the water bottle she was holding and slowly put her hands up in defeat. Further provoking someone who could kill her wasn't on her to do list that day.

Maybe, if she slowly stepped back she could zig-zag across the plain until she reached the bushes on her right, or the creek... The boy shouted again but she couldn't understand a single word. He put his bow down and took a step forward. The girl was as dangerous as a scared deer for all he knew. She took a step back, and another, and another. Like two boxers, they mirrored each other's movements. Lisa quickly turned around and started to sprint, yelling "Carpe diem! Carpe diem!" in her mind. Her glorious "sprint", which turned out to be more of a jog really, ended abruptly. Someone grabbed her arm and harshly pulled her into their direction. She prayed silently her shoulder didn't come out of her socket. But the man, again a blonde, didn't look like he was trying to harm her, but he gazed rather concerned at her, speaking the same unknown language the boy spoke, while gripping both of her wrists.

Her headache was made a sudden comeback, just at the perfect moment. "I don't understand!" she told him frustrated. His eyebrows shot up but he didn't say anything. "Je ne comprend pas!" she tried again, but again no prevail, the foreign words tumbled from her mouth with an accent that was far from French. "Ich verstehe nicht!". She ran out of languages in which she knew how to express her confusion, but the man only frowned and turned towards his brother.

She managed to take another step back, but it wasn't her brightest decision. She was dizzy, she had been all day, but _this_ , all of this crap was the drop that filled the glass. She tumbled backwards, and was incredibly thankful for the backpack, otherwise she would have had to deal with a nasty bruise on her back the next morning. The light before her eyes flickered, and she finally closed her eyes, allowing herself to rest. The grass wasn't damp anymore at least. As she slipped into unconsciousness it dawned upon her she probably looked like a turtle who can't get up.


	2. Chapter 2

She would have said it smelled like horse, but she'd never been so close to one until now. She could tell by the galloping though, it was like hitting a pothole with your bike over and over again. The thought of her internal organs playing musical chairs amused her slightly, she might have even smiled a little, but didn't dare open her eyes. She decided that avoiding eye contact at all costs is crucial. _Postpone the embarrassment, I repeat, postpone the embarrassment. Over and out._ Being so close to another human usually meant she was bound to do something incredibly stupid.

Prior to the awkward sack-of-potatoes horse ride, unbeknownst to her, the brothers looked at her like she had seven heads and decided what they were to do with her, while she lay on the ground, on her backpack, looking like a cockroach that was flipped and now couldn't get up. Neither of them knew what to make of her, but in the end decided to take her back to Kattegat on a horse, like they often would give a ride to their younger brother. Bjorn would know better, since their father left they went to him for advice.

They would have assumed she was just a lost girl who wandered a bit too far from the nearby village or a hunter, but her clothes were a dead giveaway. The dark red shirt had no sleeves, didn't look like it was keeping her warm at all, and her trousers didn't look like they were doing a better job either. Why would anyone wear such clothes in this kind of weather? They talked about her all the way to Kattegat, even if she heard a couple of words, she couldn't understand them. Her hair was long and dark brown, unlike most people in those lands, and didn't have a single braid in it. Not one. It was just long, slightly wavy, and the elastic didn't do much to keep it in place. It used to be a bun that morning when she looked into the mirror and did her hair and make-up, but of course, now most of her hair was down.

Ubbe, being the responsible brother, grabbed the metal _thing? device?_ from her face, and put it in one of his front pockets, careful not to break it. He's never seen such a thing before, but he assumed it was some kind of jewelry her people wore. It was nicely crafted and the glass seemed flawless, certainly wouldn't survive being thrown off a horse. He quickly considered it to be a magical object, but she didn't look anything like a seer and dismissed this thought. Not a seer, certainly not a warrior either. She looked more like a twig than anything else, no way she could lift a sword or a shield with only one hand. The thought of her trying to wield one was hilarious, she would be like a young child learning how to fight from her parents, clumsily swinging a tiny wooden sword.

Her backpack was tossed to Sigurd, who, instead of finding any supplies or survival tools, as you would expect to find in the backpack of someone travelling by themselves through the woods, found only books and papers. All of her possessions made absolutely no sense. From her wallet to the t-shirt neatly folded placed under the pile of books, they weren't familiar to the Vikings. Her notes would have been way more useful if they knew how to read, they would have given them at least a clue. They couldn't ride any faster either, as carrying an unconscious girl needed to be done with slightly more care.

Although she stirred, Ubbe pretended not to see it. It was more than obvious she was completely terrified by their first encounter, and didn't want to scare her any further, for fear she might overreact, move unexpectedly and fall of the horse or spook it. If she didn't understand his questions the first and second time she certainly wasn't going to understand it out of the blue if he kept repeating it. It didn't matter anyways, Kattegat was close enough, if you looked closely you could see the smoke rising from the chimneys. Sigurd followed closely, and one could tell by the look on his face he was just as concerned. " _Yes, Bjorn will know what to do, he always does._ " both of them thought, but it sounded more like they were trying to convince themselves rather than a fact. If they were to actually say it out loud, it would be completely obvious even to a half-wit that they were lying.

Meanwhile, Lisa convinced herself they were hardcore LARP-ers, and that they didn't allow themselves to be out of character even in this kind of situation. The role playing would end by the end of the day, they'll say _"Hi! My name is John, and this is my friend, Matthew, hope we didn't cause you much trouble",_ and then go back to her comfortably ordinary life. It was a terrible theory, but she refused to accept the fact that _this_ might be true. She had nowhere to run either, as she was stuck between a horse and what she suspected to be a rather muscular man. It was as if she was leaning against a wall, not a human being. Both her brothers were short and stocky. They were strong too, but no matter how much they worked out they couldn't lose the layer of fat around their torsos and hugging them is like holding a soft teddy bear. She decided to learn from their mistakes and not waste any time trying to lose her clubby thighs or stomach. This was certainly not the case with this man.

Her eyes were closed, but she could clearly hear a number of people talking around her. She must be in a village or a city by the sound of it, she could even hear the cattle and the petty merchants. This also meant her horse ride would shortly come to an end. The uncertainty was killing her. She couldn't wait to get off the gigantic beast (how people could casually ride animals that can easily kick your teeth in, she couldn't understand), but at the same time she would have to give some explanations in a language she didn't speak. She'd rather spend the rest of her life on horseback.

Although only moments ago she promised herself to postpone it, she reluctantly opened her eyes. The other guy had already dismounted, and in an awkward game of "Toss the stranger", he helped her off the horse as the other one kept the horse still. She hesitated. She didn't know a word in their language, and every single interaction will certainly prove to be difficult. She paused, stood up straight on her wobbly feet, looked at both of them and said "Thank you" as clearly as she could. Even though they didn't speak English, they seemed to get the message and nodded. Maybe it was the look on her face that spoke louder than words. It didn't matter though. One of them already stepped into the relatively large building, and the other one put a hand on her back and pushed slightly. She slowly stepped forwards, and even though she was terrified, went inside. For something looking like a feudal village, this place was surely important. She just assumed it would be more modest, but the sight proved her wrong once again.

* * *

The small room felt cramped compared to the great hall she just saw. Not that she wasn't grateful, it was heaven compared to the forest. In such a short span of time she almost forgot about it, the time she spent there was a blur in her memory, she could have wandered for years or minutes for all she knew. She hated the thought of being in a room with a stranger, even though she didn't have any reason not to trust his intentions. He _did_ bring her here after her consciousness decided to bail on her, something he wasn't obligated in any way to do, but chose to anyways. That thought didn't stop her from flinching and taking a step back when he put a hand on her shoulder, something that was supposed to be reassuring. Ubbe tried again. He took a step back, put his hand up and told her to stay. She only raised her eyebrows inquisitively. He tried again with no prevail, the girl didn't know a single word of his language.

Striding across the room, he patted the bed and repeated himself for the umpteenth time. Saying she was mortified was the understatement of the year. Did he want her _in his bed?_ Was this actually happening? Out of all the scenarios she imagined, this wasn't one of them, and she certainly wasn't going to let it just happen. She turned on her heel and tried to reach the door, but he was faster. Of course he was, what did she imagine? Outrunning athletic people wasn't an option! He put his hands on either side of her, but that didn't help in the slightest, it only amplified the total panic. He grabbed her by her waist, picked her up like she weighed nothing, carried her to the bed and then said once again in his strange language _"Stay!"_ while pointing his finger at the ground. She stopped and stared at him for a moment.

He then quickly left, as if finding strangers and leaving them in your home is completely normal, everyday stuff really. She sat alone on the bed, with her head in her hands and her mind far far away. _What is this?_ When she finally got up and went to the small window she realized one essential detail. They took her glasses.


End file.
